Sound Library & Recording

Learning Goals 3 min

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

1. Open the Sounds tab for a sprite and list its current sounds.
2. Add a new sound from the Scratch sound library (e.g. a drum, a kettle, market chatter).
3. Pick a new sound from the dropdown in a play sound [drum v] until done block and hear it on flag click.

Warm-Up 7 min

Last lesson your cat played its first sound — the built-in Meow. That was Arc 1 of the Pasar Pagi Soundscape. Today (Arc 2) you stock up: how do we add more sounds? Drum, kettle, market chatter, Selamat datang — all possible. No microphone is needed; the library alone covers everything.

Quick-fire puzzle

Aisyah's cat has three sounds loaded: Meow, drum, and kettle. She wrote this script:

when flag clicked
play sound [drum v] until done
play sound [kettle v] until done
play sound [Meow v] until done
        

New Concept — the Sounds tab 15 min

Think of each sprite as a backpack. Inside the backpack is a little folder of sounds. The Meow comes pre-packed for every cat. To add more, you open the backpack — that's the Sounds tab.

Three ways to add a sound

The Sounds tab itself

The middle area of the editor has three tabs at the top: Code · Costumes · Sounds. Click Sounds and the middle area changes. On the left you see a list of sounds the sprite owns. On the right you see a waveform — the wavy picture of the selected sound. The play and trim buttons let you preview and shorten the clip.

What's in the library

Hundreds of free sounds, sorted by category. Useful ones for Malaysian projects:

• Music Loops: drums (great for gendang-style beats), claves, hand clap.
• Effects: bell, boing, finger snap, footsteps.
• Voice: cheer, oh, ha-ha — handy for crowd reactions at a pasar.
• Animals: bird, cat, dog — for outdoor scenes.

Recording your own (optional)

If your computer has a microphone, the red circle inside the Record window lets you say something — "Selamat datang!" or "Apa khabar?" — and save it as a sound on your sprite. No microphone? Skip this step. The library has plenty.

Why it matters

One Meow gets boring after the third click. The Sounds tab is how you give a project its own voice — a drum beat that says "this is a parade", a kettle whistle that says "the teh tarik stall is open", a recorded "Selamat datang!" that no off-the-shelf game has.

Worked Example — give the cat a drum beat 15 min

Open a fresh Scratch project. The cat is on the Stage with Meow already loaded. We'll add a drum sound from the library, then play it on flag click.

Step 1 — Select the cat

Click the cat's card in the Sprite list. Blue border = selected.

Step 2 — Open the Sounds tab

Look at the three tabs at the top of the middle column: Code · Costumes · Sounds. Click Sounds. You should see Meow in the list on the left.

Step 3 — Open the sound library

Hover over the green "+" button at the bottom-left of the Sounds tab. Four icons fan out. Click the magnifying glass — that's "Choose a Sound".

Step 4 — Pick the drum

In the library, click the Music Loops category. Find a sound called Drum Beat (or any drum that catches your ear — the library changes over time). Click it. Scratch adds it to your sound list and returns you to the Sounds tab.

Step 5 — Preview it

Click the new drum in the list on the left. The waveform appears on the right. Click the play arrow above the waveform — you should hear it.

Step 6 — Switch back to Code and use it

Click the Code tab. Drag when flag clicked into the Script Area. Drag play sound [Meow v] until done under it. Click the dropdown — you should now see Meow AND Drum Beat. Pick Drum Beat.

when flag clicked
play sound [Drum Beat v] until done
        

Step 7 — Click the flag

You hear the drum beat instead of a meow. One library trip, one dropdown pick, and your project has a whole new sound.

What changed: compared to last lesson (one Meow only), the cat now has two sounds. The dropdown picks which one plays. The script logic didn't change at all.

The full assembled stack (your reference)

when flag clicked
play sound [Drum Beat v] until done
say [Pasar Pagi!] for (2) seconds
        

Try It Yourself — three small builds 12 min

when flag clicked
play sound [kettle v] until done
          

when flag clicked
play sound [Drum Beat v] until done
play sound [Hand Clap v] until done
play sound [Drum Beat v] until done
          

when flag clicked
play sound [welcome v] until done
play sound [Meow v] until done
          

Mini-Challenge — the three-sound greeting 5 min

"A sound trio for your sprite"

Add three new sounds to your cat from the library — one drum, one bell or kettle, and one voice clip. Build a script that plays them one after the other, then says hello.

It works if:

• Your sprite's sound list now contains four sounds — the original Meow plus three you added.
• Clicking the green flag plays all three new sounds in order.
• After the third sound, the cat says something on screen (use say from earlier).
• Only blocks from this lesson and earlier lessons are used.

when flag clicked
play sound [Drum Beat v] until done
play sound [kettle v] until done
play sound [cheer v] until done
say [Selamat datang ke pasar!] for (2) seconds
          

Recap 2 min

Today you opened the Sounds tab and added new sounds to your sprite three ways: from the library, by recording, or by uploading a file. Once a sound is in the list, any Sound block's dropdown can pick it. One block, dozens of possible voices.

Sounds tab

The third tab at the top of the middle column. Shows the selected sprite's sound list and waveform editor.

Sound library

Scratch's free collection of clips, opened by the magnifying-glass icon. Sorted into Music Loops, Effects, Voice, Animals, and more.

Waveform

The wavy picture of a sound. Tall waves mean louder; flat lines mean silence. Used to preview and trim a sound.

dropdown ([sound v])

The little box with an arrow inside a Sound block. Click it to pick which of the sprite's sounds the block will play.

Homework 1 min

A sound for each click. Add three new sounds to your cat: a drum, a bell, and any animal sound. Then build three scripts on the same cat — one starts with the green flag, one starts with the space key, one starts when the cat is clicked. Each script plays a different sound.

1. Sounds tab → add three new sounds from the library.
2. Build three small scripts, one for each starter.
3. Test all three triggers and check each plays a different sound.

when flag clicked
play sound [Drum Beat v] until done

when [space v] key pressed
play sound [Bell Toll v] until done

when this sprite clicked
play sound [Meow v] until done
        

Bring back next class:

• A screenshot of your Sounds tab showing four sounds in the list.
• A screenshot of your Script Area showing the three scripts above.

Heads up for next class: SCR-L01-37 introduces volume and pitch — how to make a sound louder, softer, higher-pitched, or deeper.